


"Today...we light the fire!"

by JediBatman



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Doomed Relationship, F/M, First Kiss, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 21:47:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14481885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JediBatman/pseuds/JediBatman
Summary: The First Order is rebuilding the Starkiller Base on Planet Crait. Meanwhile, the once more discgraced Poe Dameron faces a court-martial for a disastrous disobedience of orders.There is only one way for him to clear his name and help the Resistance. But he will need the help of an old antagonist.The former antagonist is no other than Amilyn Holdo, who has realised the error in her ways.





	"Today...we light the fire!"

**Author's Note:**

> This story is partly inspired by Celeste9's story "This is a rescue" But it follows a totally different path, the motives are completely different, and the end... is...let's say... not that happy.
> 
> Kudos to Celeste9 for writing three really nice Poe/Amilyn short stories.

Vice Admiral Holdo looked at the console in front of her. The coordinates were right. The heavy cruiser Raddus would collide with the First Order flagship in a few minutes. And she would die in the ensuing explosion. Just like she wanted it to end.

Then she looked at the console again. A small light flashed red. One of the escape pods was still inside the hangar. How could that be? Had it malfunctioned? Or had it been a farewell gift by General Leia Organa?

Her dilemma only lasted for five seconds. After the fifth second passed, Amilyn Holdo rushed to the hangar. 

 

Six months later

After the miraculous survival of the last twenty Resistance members on Crait, General Leia Organa took charge determined to rejuvenate the organization. Using her contacts, her wits, and the impression Luke's sacrifice had left she managed to recruit dozens of new members. Soon the Resistance found a new base in the swamp planet of Dagobath, the place where the Grand Jedi Master Yoda had spent the last two decades of his life. 

The hotshot pilot Poe Dameron had been one of the people in the base. He, Finn and Chewbacca were very close friends and spend as much time they could together. In fact, Finn and Chewie were the only two people who did not avoid him. Everyone knew about his role on board Raddus and his stupid mistakes that had caused lots of unnecessary deaths. 

Leia Organa, who in the past had tried to groom him for a leadership position had lost any interest in him. She had found better candidates, people who Poe had to admit were as smart as him but listened five times more and thought ten times more. Poe felt like an outcast. And he knew he deserved it.

Poe had spent the six months after the destruction of Raddus to analyze and understand what had happened. And he really hated the conclusions he had made.

 

In Poe's opinion, the path of stupidity had started when he had disobeyed a direct order by General Organa herself to attack a First Order dreadnought. The attack had been a success but the price had been heavy. Eight bombers, ten fighters, and fifty irreplaceable Resistance members had lost their lives in the attack. And all of that because he hadn't listened, because he had been so sure of himself.

The General had demoted him from Commander to Captain. Under other circumstances she would have him shot by a firing squad. But Poe had saved the Resistance and who knows how many more billions of people when he attacked and destroyed the Starkiller base. That achievement had forced Leia to show leniency.

Then the First Order attacked again. Their attack killed most of the Resistance high command and seriously wounded Leia, forcing Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo to take charge. And she addressed them wearing a purple gala dress instead of a uniform and having dyed her hair purple. As if clothes and hair mattered more than the Resistance leadership. And such a negative impression had been his second mistake.

When Holdo had ended her speech, Poe had asked her about their plan. He later admitted himself he had been somewhat disrespectful and impolite. And how had she reacted? She had publicly insulted him for his demotion, a reaction two orders of magnitude worse than his. His initial dislike had become ten times more intense in an instant.

Poe should have been more understanding. Amilyn Holdo had only four hundred people against four million First Order people hunting them. They were running out of fuel and she had just assumed command. He should have been a little more polite and willing to help. Instead, he had antagonized her.

When Finn and Rose had found out about the First Order hyperspace tracking technology, Poe decided to run an operation to disable it. But instead of informing Holdo, he run the operation in secret, something that infuriated her when she found out. That was mistake number three.

Since nobody told them what they would do, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Half the Resistance took his side in the mutiny he organized. Only the fact that General Organa woke up from her coma and convinced everyone to calm down had ended the mutiny. In the end, he learned they would hide in Crait, an Outer Rim planet where a hidden base existed. Had it been so hard for Holdo to tell it herself? 

His and worst mistake had been after he learned about the evacuation plan. What had he done? He decided to inform Finn and Rose...and tell them everything instead of just telling them to abort the mission and return to base. The First Order overheard them and as a result most of the Resistance transports were blown to bits. And all that because he had made a rookie mistake that even a seventeen-year old raw recruit wouldn't do.

In conclusion, Poe had decided that although Holdo had made a lot of mistakes, he should not judge her too harshly. She had the best of intentions and he really hadn't helped her with his behavior. Besides, his two biggest mistakes – attacking the dreadnought and giving too much info to Finn and Rose – had been entirely his. Holdo had zero involvement in them. 

In the end, Holdo had decided to punish herself for her failings. However, Poe hoped she had somehow survived. He wanted to meet her, apologize for his mistakes and inform her he had completely forgiven her for hers. 

 

The next morning General Organa asked for everyone in the base to attend a briefing.

“According to a First Order electronic message we intercepted, the First Order is building a new superweapon like the one created in the Starkiller Base. Its location is on planet Crait, where our former stronghold was. We estimate the weapon will be ready in about twelve months." 

“According to the same message, Amilyn Holdo survived the destruction of Raddus and is currently a prisoner of the First Order on planet Crait.”

 

When the briefing was over, Poe stood up and left like everybody else. Two armed soldiers followed him. He nodded them and started walking towards the brig. As soon as they reached the brig, Private Poe Dameron let one of the soldiers unlock a steel door with bars, entered his cell, and sat to the small bed in it. The door closed and locked behind him.

 

Meanwhile, inside the First Order hospital on Crait base, a woman tried to eat some soup from a disk in front of her. Two armed First Order soldiers observed her. Normally, her hands were tied to the bed but they untied her twice a day when they gave her food.

The soup was awful. It had a bland taste, like eating sand and she had great difficulty swallowing it. But option number two was dying from hunger. After some minutes, she finished eating, drank some water and was allowed to go to the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom, Amilyn Holdo looked at herself on the mirror. Her hair had taken their natural washed out blond color. Without make up, the wrinkles in her face were apparent. She looked old, tired, saggy, and defeated.

Five minutes later, Holdo exited the bathroom, climbed back to her bed, and waited for the guards to tie her. After they did, they closed the hospital room door and left. She was now alone and she would remain so for the next twelve hours...alone with her memories.

 

Amilyn Holdo rushed to the hangar to the small escape pod there. She entered it, closed the hatch, and pressed the start button. The pod engine started working. Since the other transports were under attack, she chose a course away from them. Unfortunately, the new course took her closer to the path of an approaching capital ship. Soon they had located her and used a tractor beam to capture her.

The First Order soon realized they had captured a senior officer and started interrogating her. Holdo suspected they would skin her alive if they found out that thousands of First Order personnel were dead because of her. For that reason she lied and claimed Admiral Akbar had made the suicide attack against them. The reputation of Akbar as an excellent tactician and her relative inexperience in military affairs managed to convince them.

A few months later, they transferred her to the new capital of the First Order, planet Crait. They kept interrogating them but the information she provided them was already known to the First Order. Soon they lost interest and simply kept her as a prisoner in a small cell.

Amilyn had all the time to think about her past, about her life in the Resistance and most of it about her mistakes.

She had assumed command of the Resistance after all of her superiors – except Leia – had lost their lives in the First Order attack. How had she addressed the Resistance survivors? Dressed as if she was about to go to a gala dinner. She was certain that not only Poe Dameron had found her ridiculous. Even she found herself ridiculous now.

Her second mistake had been during her initial speech. She had four hundred scared people in front of her, people who didn't know whether they would be alive the following day. And how had she addressed them? With platitudes instead of a concrete plan. Granted, she was afraid there was a mole between them but she could still give them some details, some realistic hope. Besides, if a mole existed he could easily kill her and then the plan would be lost anyway.

Her third mistake was when Poe Dameron asked her about the plan. Damn it, he had just given her an opportunity to correct her mistake of not sharing information. And what had she done? She had publicly belittled and humiliated him. Him, the greatest hero of the Resistance, the man who had personally destroyed the Starkiller Base. Granted, he had disobeyed orders but he already had been punished for that. There was no need for the extra humiliation. And her sarcasm had been so vicious. 

Her fourth mistake was when she learned about Poe's plan to destroy the First Order hyperspace locator. She didn't even acknowledge the merits of Poe's plan. She just brushed him off like an immature child. 

Then mutiny broke out. Half the Resistance took part in it. It would have been too easy to just blame Poe Dameron for it. But you take part in a mutiny because you choose it, not because a superior ordered you to do so. When half your subordinates choose to openly revolt against you less than twenty hours after you have assumed command, then something is terribly wrong with you and your leadership style. 

In the end, Leia Organa woke up just in time to convince everyone to calm down. Then what did she do? She shared the evacuation plan with Dameron, something she had refused to do even at gunpoint. Poe had calmed down, agreed it was a good plan and behaved himself. In ten minutes, Leia Organa had managed to solve a crisis Holdo hadn't managed to solve in fifteen hours. In just ten minutes!

It was time to evacuate Raddus and go to hide on planet Crait. Holdo had chosen to stay back, supposedly to guide the heavy cruiser away from the Resistance transports. But did she really have to do that? Couldn't a lower ranking member of the Resistance just pilot the ship and then escape in a pod? Couldn't they just use an autopilot? 

Yes, they could do all that. But Amilyn stayed behind not because of a lack of autopilot or a lack of trained Resistance members. It was a dignified way for Holdo to punish herself for her failings, the equivalent of leaving a loaded gun to a disgraced officer with the implication the officer should use the gun to commit suicide instead of facing the humiliation of a court-martial. And Holdo had no doubt Leia would punish her for her incompetence, no matter how good friends they had been in the past.

When she remained alone in the cruiser, Amilyn was determined to die. But a few seconds later something changed inside her. She wanted to live, she wanted to enjoy life, and she wanted to... see him again? Yes, she wanted to see Poe Dameron again. She could no longer deny her feelings for him.

 

“You asked to see me Poe. What is it?” Leia Organa asked. She was sitting in Poe's cell.

“For starters, I take full responsibility for the incident that put me in the brig.”

The incident Poe meant had happened one week ago. He had been in charge of a group of ten fighters, on a long distance patrol. Suddenly, they saw a small convoy consisting of twenty First Order fighters and four vessels that appeared to be freighters. Poe had immediately ordered an attack, despite very strict orders by General Organa herself not to engage the First Order so far away from their base. Unfortunately, the First Order pilots were part of their elite corps and despite losing five of their own, they managed to shoot down five Resistance fighters.

“It is good to see you take responsibility”, Leia replied. “But it won't bring our pilots back.”

“I know. I also know I am about to be court martialed and that I have exhausted all good will the Starkiller base attack has provided. I have devised a plan of action to neutralize their superweapon... and the best part is that no pilots will risk their lives.”

“I am listening”, Leia said. Poe explained his plan. 

“It might work Poe. Two questions. One, how do you escape? And two, what do you want in return?” Poe Dameron answered both questions. Leia did not expect the replies but she nodded.

“Very well Poe. I will get you the supplies you need and I will inform Finn and Chewie.”

 

Three hours later the door in Poe's cell opened. Poe woke up, stood up, and left. This time none put cuffs in his hands and none followed him. He took his time in the shower, where he bathed, shaved, and put new clothes and underwear.

After he put his new clothes on, he reached the hangar where the Millenium Falcon was. Finn and Chewie were inside, waiting for him. 

“All right Finn, do you have what I asked?” Poe asked.

“All in this bag buddy”, Finn replied.

 

A few hours later, the Millenium Falcon was above Crait. Poe had changed clothes to a First Order Captain uniform. He was going to infiltrate the base and an officer's uniform was the best way to do so.

“Poe, it's been an honor you know”, Finn said. Chewie growled.

“I know guys. I am sorry. There was no other way to do it. I hope you understand. I am a loose cannon. Better to end it that way.”

Chewie growled and offered Poe a flask. Poe smiled and took it.

“Han's flask? With whiskey in it? The best gift I ever had. You are the man Chewie!” 

Poe shook hands with Chewie and Finn, picked up his bag, entered the pod and closed the hatch behind him. Finn pressed a button and the pod left Millenium Falcon and started its descent to Crait surface. If everything went according to plan, the pod would land a few kilometers away from the First Order base energy shield. 

 

The pod landed in its designated area, a deserted area about ten kilometers from the enemy energy shield. Poe got out of the pod and took his bag and a camouflage net from inside it. He used the net to cover the pod from potential aerial observation. Then he started walking towards the First Order base. He estimated he would cross the energy shield in about two hours and reach the hospital where Holdo was held in about four. 

Two hours later, he reached the energy shield. He was always surprised how these things worked. They could stop a laser bolt, a thunder or a fast moving bullet but they could not stop a slow moving object such a walking human being from passing through them. Without slowing down, Poe Dameron passed through the shield and checked his datapad. His first objective, the base hospital was about seven kilometers away.

It was still night and most of the base personnel were asleep in their beds. There were some troop patrols but as Poe observed, they were too few and too predictable in their paths. He easily bypassed them all. He found it strange to see such a disorganization during a war period. Probably the First Order still considered the Resistance finished.

It was seven am when Poe reached the hospital where Amilyn was held. He was dressed as a First Order Captain and he had to disguise himself as a military physician to reach her. Without talking to anyone or looking at anyone, he entered a toilet and locked the door behind him. Then he opened the bag, picked the appropriate clothes on, and exited the toilet.

As soon as he approached the room where Holdo was, he saw the first two stormtroopers. One of them gestured him to stop. Poe complied.

“I am here to examine prisoner... Holdo”, Poe said pretending to consult his datapad. “It is a routine examination.”

“Are you in the list of authorized physicians?”, the stormtrooper asked. Poe showed him his datapad where Resistance hackers had forged an authorization. The stormtrooper examined it. Poe's heart pounded but he remained calm.

Five seconds later, the stormtrooper gestured him to proceed. They were probably bored and didn't expect anything to happen, Poe concluded.

The second group of stormtroopers consisted of four people. They were in front of the room Holdo was held. Their leader, a sergeant gestured him to stop. Poe showed him his datapad, repeating the previous steps.

This time the search was more thorough. The sergeant asked for Poe to remove his cap and then zoomed the photo in the datapad and checked again. It took him twenty seconds to accept that the man in front of him was a physician sent to examine the Resistance prisoner. 

 

Inside the room, Amilyn Holdo had just awoken up. She had an empty expression in her face. As soon as he reached the room, he turned around with his back to Holdo and locked the door. Then he used his datapad to scan the area for hidden cameras or hidden microphones. Satisfied none could be found, he turned around and approached the bed where Amilyn was. 

“Be quiet Amilyn”, he whispered. “We need to talk.” She nodded... then looked at him again.

“Poe? Poe? Is that you? I... I can't believe it!” 

“For starters, I am here to apologize for everything”, he whispered. He could see the tears in her eyes.

“The mutiny, the insubordination, my stubbornness, everything”, he said.

“You don't have to. I have forgiven you months ago”, she replied in a quiet voice. “It was mostly my fault after all. I was the superior officer.”

“You are very noble Amilyn”, Poe said. He also had tears in his eyes.

“My arrogance, my disrespect, my inability to listen, my incompetence. I am so sorry Poe. I screw it up.”

“I also have forgiven you Amilyn. We are both stupid you know. We are not made for leadership roles.”

“I know Poe. I think of it every day.” She smiled, the first time she had after six months. He smiled back. She looked so beautiful when she smiled.

“Now, there are two more reasons I am here apart from apologizing”, Poe continued. 

“I am listening”, she said. “Not listening to you has been a mistake I regret every day.” They both smiled and Poe told her about his plan of infiltration and her role in it. 

“It is strictly on a volunteer basis. If you say no it is OK. Just don't tell anyone I was here.”

“I will do it. After all, is there anything left for us in the Resistance?”

“For both of us a court-martial. And by the way, they have demoted you to Private”, Poe said. “You know for being secretive, incompetent, hard to cooperate, the mutiny etc.”

“I expected to be demoted... but a Private? The lowest rank of all?”

“They demoted me as well. I am also a Private”, he replied.

“I suppose we deserved that. Now what about the third reason of your visit?”

“Have I ever told you how much I like you Amilyn?”, Poe said, a warm smile on his face.

“I like you too Poe”, she replied. Three seconds later he kissed her on the lips. It was warm, open-mouthed, and very passionate.

 

Ten minutes later, their passionate kiss was over. Poe opened his bag and offered Amilyn two thermal grenades. 

“Just wait for the senior officers”, he said. 

“OK handsome. My goodness, if only I had a drink right now.”

Poe smiled, reached the interior pocket of his coat, and produced the flask Chewie had given him. He offered it to Amilyn who drank a generous sip of it and then gave it back to him. Poe also drank from it. It contained high quality whiskey.

“Hide the grenades under your sheets and buy some time till I give you the signal. They won't search for weapons anyway.”

“What signal Poe?”

“Oh, you won't miss it”, he replied with a wink. She smiled at him.

“Good luck Poe. It's been an honor meeting you. And thank you for forgiving me.”

“Thank you Amilyn. Thank you for forgiving me too. Now if you excuse me, I have a flight to catch.” 

“I love you Poe”, she said. Poe stopped, turned and looked at her.

“So do I Amilyn.” With these final words, Poe Dameron unlocked the door, opened it, exited the room, closed the door, and then left without saying a word to the four stormtroopers.

 

Poe found a toilette, entered it, tossed his white hospital blouse in a garbage can and removed a pair of sunglasses from his bag. He looked himself in the mirror. He really looked the part of an arrogant hotshot pilot. 

“OK flyboy. Showtime”, he told himself. There was no turning back now. He took a final look at his datapad, made a final adjustment to his uniform and exited the toilet. The hangar bay he looked for was twenty minutes away on foot. 

 

Amilyn was grateful for the fact her hands were no longer tied. They had decided to show some respect to her after all. She pressed a button next to her bed. A few seconds later, a stormtrooper entered her room.

“There is something important I have to tell you”, she said.

“What is it?”

“The man who entered my room was not a doctor. He was a Resistance officer.” 

“Do you know him?”

“I do. He is Poe Dameron, the best pilot in the Resistance. Call your superiors now please. I have something very important and very urgent to tell them.” 

The stormtrooper hesitated. 

“If you don't believe me, just check the cameras.”

The stormtrooper, nodded, exited the room and informed the sergeant in charge. The sergeant used his radio to communicate with his captain. 

 

For the hundredth time, Poe resisted the urge to run to the hangar. The moment he run, hundreds of First Order troopers around him would become suspicious. 

He checked the datapad again. If he continued like that, he would be there in ten minutes.

 

The First Order Captain was staring at Amilyn Holdo. 

“OK, Dameron was here. We checked the cameras. So what did he tell you?”

“There is a mole in the First Order. He wanted to meet that person.”

“Identify him. Or is it her?”

“That person is a senior officer. I will only identify him or her to another senior officer.”

“Are you kidding me Holdo? A senior officer? Why to believe you?” 

“Two words: Starkiller Base”, she replied. She saw a hint of doubt in the Captain's eyes.

“Captain”, she continued. “How were the shield lowered in Starkiller Base? By themselves? We had a person inside, someone who on cue lowered them.” The doubt in the Captain's eyes increased.

“Do you know who led the attack against Starkiller Base Captain? Poe Dameron”, Amilyn said. “But I think you already know that.”

“Let's say you are right. Explain me why he came to visit you. You are not part of his mission. You are just a prisoner.”

“He came because he loves me and he wanted to reconcile with me. He has an escape plan ready for me but he told me no details about it. And I love him too.”

“Fine, I will inform the top brass. You sound convincing to me.”

“Better inform them all Captain. I have seen a lot of turf wars in my life”, she said. “And always the lowest ranking pay the price.”

The Captain nodded. Then he exited the room.

 

Poe Dameron entered the hangar bay. His ironed uniform, combined with his perfectly fit cup, his intimidating glasses and his polished boots made the trick. Everyone saluted him. Walking with slow and confident steps, he reached the area where the bombers were.

Poe made a show of moving slowly and checking what the airmen did. Then he slowly approached one of the bombers. It appeared to be loaded with bombs, fully fueled, and ready to take off. Perfect! 

Poe stood five meters away from the bomber. A young sergeant was checking something on a computer screen. He approached him.

“Sergeant? May I have a word with you?”

“Yes, Captain”, the sergeant replied standing in attention. 

“At ease Sergeant. I am making a surprise inspection in your unit. Go to your commanding officer and tell him to meet me right here as soon as possible.”

 

The first senior officers entered Holdo's room. They were General Armitage Hux, Colonel Phasma and a third General Amilyn didn't know about. Phasma had been promoted from Captain to Colonel and she no longer wore her shiny chrome armor. Instead, she wore a black, tight uniform.

Holdo knew it was Phasma who had lowered the shields in Starkiller base. But she decided to play with them a little more, to fully accomplish her part of the plan.

The door opened again. This time she could see a General with the Military Intelligence insignia and another one with the Corps of Engineers one. Two Admirals soon followed. 

“Thank you for your interest and attention ladies and gentlemen. The reason...”

The door opened again. Two more people entered the room. They were Knights of Ren, wearing the long hooded robes and their black face-covering masks. 

“We shall wait for our Supreme Leader to arrive. Then we start”, one of the Knights of Ren said.

 

Poe Dameron entered the bomber, sat at the cockpit, and started the necessary preflight checks. Everything appeared to be in order. The bomber was fully fueled and with a complete bomb load. 

He started the preflight sequence that would turn the aircraft engines on. His objective was about twenty kilometers to the south. At a four hundred kilometers per hour speed, it would take him three minutes to go there. 

“You asked to see me Captain. What is it?” A Captain wearing a flight jacket approached him, along with the Sergeant. Poe saluted the Captain and the Captain saluted back.

“This is a surprise inspection. General Hux ordered it.”

“I didn't see any orders for it. And you didn't produce any to the Sergeant.”

“It is a surprise inspection. The orders will come soon. General Hux couldn't sign them because he is interrogating a prisoner as we speak. Ask him yourself if you don't believe me.” 

“Call the General's office”, the Captain ordered the Sergeant. The Sergeant left.

“Fine, you are careful and I appreciate that”, Poe said in a friendly expression. “Let me tell you this Captain. There is a fifty-fifty chance the General will come here for a visit. And then you'll be in trouble.”

“How so Captain?”

“Well”, Poe said, “I had a look at your men. Some of them aren't shaved. Others have forgotten to polish their boots. Personally, I don't care. But the General does. And that interrogation will soon end.”

The Sergeant returned. “The General is unavailable sir. He is interrogating a prisoner named Holdo.” The Captain dismissed him.

“Captain”, Poe said, “I don't care about shaving or polished boots. That's infantry stuff. So as a pilot to another, I will let you have your men ready for the General while I am too busy checking equipment. So just make sure none is to disturb me here. That's all.”

“Yes Captain. And thank you for... you know letting some things slide.”

“Hey, I am not an infantryman!”, Poe said laughing. The Captain laughed as well with the inter service rivalry joke as well.

Poe was alone in the bomber. He finished the preflight checks. Then he started the engines. He was about to undertake a mission... the last of his life.

 

“Why did you betray Dameron?” The question came from Phasma. 

“We should wait for the Supreme Leader”, a Knight of Ren said.

“It is not a question about the identity of the mole”, Phasma said. “She can answer it.” The Knight nodded. 

“I love him. And I know he is alive now. And I know that if he succeeds in his mission today, he will lead another attack against a First Order superweapon. The last time he did that, we lost three quarters of our attacking fighters.

“I know how stubborn Poe is. He will attack even if he is certain he will die in the attempt. And a new attack against you will probably kill him. At least as a prisoner he will be alive and safe. “

“And I suppose the deal you want to make includes him not killing him and but taking him alive”, Phasma continued.

“Yes, but I don't think I have a strong bargaining position.”

“And what about betraying the Resistance? You are a senior Resistance officer after all”, Hux said.

“You broke me. I have lost my faith. You convinced me you will never stop until you win. And you have resources the Resistance cannot even dream of.” Her expression was sad and bitter.

“I no longer care about the Resistance. I only care about Poe.” The second part of her statement was true... but not the first.

The door opened again. Kylo Ren, the Supreme Leader of the First Order entered the room. 

 

The bomber with Poe inside accelerated on the runway and took off. A few seconds later, Poe turned it southwards. It was only a matter of a few minutes now. 

 

General Organa summoned Sergeant Rose Tiko in her office. 

“I want you to carefully monitor Crait. Something big is about to happen in a few minutes.” Tiko saluted and left.

When Leia was alone in her office, she turned her computer on and started typing. 

“Private Amilyn Holdo. Accused for: incompetence, inability to effectively communicate and coordinate with subordinates, inspiration of mistrust to her person and her position, public disrespect and humiliation of a decorated Resistance officer...

“Private Poe Dameron. Accused for: insubordination, disobedience, disrespect for authority, mutiny, inability to effectively communicate and coordinate with superiors...

“As a token to their...

 

The bomber reached the desired altitude. Poe looked from the window. There was a huge hole on the ground. First Order construction crews were digging for their new superweapon. There was a huge black object inside the walls of the hole. It was a thermal oscillator. Destroying it would delay the construction of the superweapon for about six months.

The second part of the plan was in effect now. Amilyn would just tell the truth about meeting him. That would give her credibility. Then she would use that credibility to convince their superior officers to gather in the same room. Then she would use the thermal detonators to kill them all.

According to Leia Organa, the First Order needed twelve months to create the new superweapon. The Resistance would need two years to mobilize a massive armada of allies that would attack and destroy the superweapon. If Amilyn succeeded, the ensuing chaos and turf wars could give them the six more months they needed.

Poe had made no plans to escape... for the simple reason he wouldn't. It was a suicide mission for him, the only way to clear his name. He had the choice of dying as a hero who had done something meaningful in the end or dying as a disgraced former hero who had screwed up again. He had chosen the former. 

“As Amilyn used to say: We are the spark that will light the fire that will restore the Republic”, Poe told himself. Then he picked the flask from his pocket and drank all the remaining whiskey in it. A shame to waste it.

Poe reached the critical point. It was time for his grand finale. He would use the bomber to ram the thermal oscillator.

“OK then! Let's light the fire!” He pushed the throttle forward. The bomber started its descend towards the oscillator. The few anti-aircraft artillery pieces around the construction site opened fire but it was too late. The bomber hit the oscillator obliterating it. Poe Dameron ended it the way he wanted it: like a hero.

 

“So Holdo, who is the mole?” Kylo Ren asked. Before Amilyn could answer, the sounds and vibrations of the explosion reached the hospital. 

“What was that?” Hux asked.

“I think I know”, Holdo replied. All heads turned to look at her.

“As Poe Dameron used to say: We are the spark that will light the fire, that will burn the First Order down.” She paused for dramatic effect.

“Today...we light the fire!” The two thermal detonators fell to the floor. 

Most of the people in the room didn't even realize something had fallen to the floor. Even if they had they couldn't do anything. One thermal detonator could incinerate every human being at a radius of twenty meters. And Holdo had dropped two on the ground. Not even a powerful Force user like Kylo Ren could survive that. 

Everyone in the room was evaporated. Amilyn Holdo, Kylo Ren, Hux, Phasma, two Knights of Ren and five First Order Generals lost their lives in an instant.

 

“General!" Sergeant Tiko said entering Leia's office. “There are messages about an explosion in their superweapon construction site and another one in their hospital.”

“Keep me informed about all significant developments”, Leia said.

They had made it! They had given the Resistance the breathing room it needed. They had sacrificed their lives to do so. They deserved a recognition for their effort.

“As a token to their selfless sacrifice, Amilyn Holdo and Poe Dameron are permanently cleared by all accusations against them. In addition, they are both posthumously promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral.”


End file.
